CDL Blogoversary, Day Seven: TV is Life

We’re celebrating Claire De Lunacy’s First Blogoversary, and I’ve invited some very gracious and awesome friends to contribute to this mess, sharing their words with you, my beloved readers. Through June 10th, there will be a new post from a different guest each day, culminating with a new, full-length short story by yours truly. I hope you enjoy my guests’ work as much as I do, and I hope you’ll stick around to see what happens during the NEXT year.

[Today’s Guest Blogger is Megan Gesing, a pal I met on The Twitter. Megan is a 27 year-old Instructional Designer, Actress, Filmmaker and Artist. She’s from Cleveland, OH but lives in Las Vegas, NV for the time being. Contrary to popular belief, she doesn’t live in a casino and hates gambling. She really loves the sun and doesn’t eat meat.

I watch a lot of TV. I always have. I’ve been acting since I was a kid, so I attribute this to research. With all of this TV watching, I began developing this theory… See, my life can be pretty bizarre- Sometimes unbelievably so. Stuff happens to me that you only see on TV… so, I’ve come to the conclusion that my life is a TV show- or more accurately a series of TV shows based on the same character.

When I was a kid, I was the cute little girl on a family comedy. The kind of girl who’s mom dressed her up in pretty clothes and dress shoes, but who insisted on going outside and attempting to climb a tree anyway. This always ended badly… but not horribly, so the audience (whoever and wherever they are) could laugh and shake their heads at her. “Aw, that poor girl.” There were ups and downs, laughs and tears… Just like any good family comedy.

Through Junior High and High School, my show was more like “Boy Meets World” or something like that. I had a great group of friends and we were pretty wholesome. There was always just enough excitement and embarrassment to make the audience cringe and fall in love. C’mon- you know the kind of show. There were some great characters that got their own spin-offs and you always knew it was going to end at some point. It may be sad, but high school can’t last forever, right?

Well, then I went to college. My show got a complete overhaul: new location, new cast, new attitude. It wasn’t really “wholesome” anymore. It was dramatic and intense. I got into trouble, I got my heart broken, I learned a lot about myself. I’m pretty sure it made for great TV week after week. We always had summer break and a new season started every fall. Each spring, something shocking would happen that would leave us all hanging waiting for the “season” to start in the fall. Each year we’d welcome new characters and say good-bye to others. People were scandalous, crazy, supportive and loving. I mean, it was college. Then I graduated and I’m pretty sure my show got cancelled.

But, audiences must like me because I landed a part on a wholesome kids show, playing their sarcastic-but-loving daycare teacher. I couldn’t take this for too long, so I moved to Las Vegas.

That’s the show I’m on now. It’s been “on the air” for three years now. It’s exactly what you’d expect from a 20-something dramedy. Insane roommates, ridiculously unhealthy relationships, challenging jobs, new friends… It was a great show for a long time- but it’s pretty boring now. I need a change.

I’ve been doing my best to change to the storylines myself, but sometimes I get the sinking feeling that I have no control. I get the feeling that nothing’s going to change right now. Maybe the writers are on strike, or the production company gets a great deal to shoot in Las Vegas. Something completely out of my control is keeping me stuck here.

We’re going on summer break. The show’s going to be in repeats for a few months and for the first time in a lifetime, there’s no big cliffhanger ending… There’s no big mystery to solve or surprise to wait for next fall. Just a 28th birthday. Woo!

Think about it, we’re all stars of our own TV shows. People make guest appearances on each other’s shows and shows spin off from each other. We’re all the star of our own show… or at least we should be. When the storyline falters and you start to feel like a secondary cast member on someone else’s show, there’s a problem.

Actors have shown us that it’s possible to demand quality from your writers: more face time, a more interesting plotline for your character- whatever you need. Just look what it did for the cast of Grey’s Anatomy- OK, maybe not the best example…

But as the star of my show, I’m demanding better storylines. This fall, it’s going to be the start of the BEST SEASON ever. Something big is going to happen. Things are going to change. I just really hope I don’t get a brain tumor or hit by a bus…

Stay tuned.

[It’s me again. Speaking as the star of literally dozens of mental television shows, I can confirm that we are each living in a program of our own making. Be sure to tune into Megan’s site for more fun and a possible season-ending cliffhanger involving ninjas, ferrets and a surprise special guest!*

*NOTE: I am, in fact, making this up.

Coming up tomorrow: The CDL Blogoversary celebration comes to a close with a COMPLETE short story from the Circe universe, courtesy of yours truly. Walk, don’t run, to your nearest chair and perch on the edge with anticipation, won’t you?]